A Time of Renewal for Restaurant Marketing

The days of restaurants building relationships and loyal customer bases through face-to-face interaction are over – for now. When dining slowed to a jarring halt in Spring 2020, restaurants were confronted with sector-changing challenges. For some enterprising restaurants, the difference between shuttering and thriving depended upon their ability to go digital. Quick-service mainstay A&W, for instance, partnered with a digital experience company to put out quizzes and other interactive content that allowed them to understand their customers better. 

The result? A jump in sales that exceeded all growth for the past decade. Take that, COVID-19. Are you wondering how something like a quiz could drive business? After all, sending customers a digital touchpoint doesn’t actually have anything to do with eating. The quizzes A&W created were meant to be engaging and entertaining first and foremost – and in the background, the company was gathering a goldmine of data on their customers.

Quality is key with experiences like this. A&W kept it tight, only releasing ten experiences – and they saw remarkably high engagement. Data that comes to a company directly from users is a rarity. Often, marketers deal with third parties and packaged data that, while easier to manage, lack the flexibility of data collected firsthand. The data collected in this quiz campaign was also of vital importance in determining product marketing and promotions around certain menu items.

If you are a quick-service restaurant looking for ways to better understand and interact with your customers, consider working with ASTRALCOM. We have a proven record of leveling-up restaurants with comprehensive digital and content strategies.